Don’t Be Wooden, Understand The Realities of Social Life: SC Orders Creation of Seat in IIT For Dalit student

The court added that the creation of this seat will be subject to admission being regularised if (any other) seat falls vacant.

New Delhi: Exercising its power under Article 142 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court on Monday ordered the creation of a seat in the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay for a 17-year-old Dalit boy who had qualified for the IIT exam but missed out on a seat because of failing to make an online fee payment on time due to technical glitches.

“The student did not have money, then sister had to transfer money, and then there were technical issues. The boy cleared the exam. If it was his negligence then we would not have asked you”, a bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna told the counsel appearing for Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JOSAA), adding that they should not be ‘wooden on the issue and understand the realities of social life—the practical difficulties on the ground’.

The court added that the creation of this seat will be subject to admission being regularised if (any other) seat falls vacant. The order by the bench was passed after JOSAA submitted that all seats have been filled and no vacant seats are available.

Furthermore, the Bench cited the excellent track record of the boy and said that it would not come to aid of a candidate, who is not deserving.

What had happened? All you need to know about the case

The student got a seat allocated at IIT-Bombay in the civil engineering branch on October 27. The petitioner had logged into the JOSAA website on October 29 and uploaded the requisite documents, but he fell short of money to pay the seat acceptance fee.

His sister transferred the money to him on October 30 and he again tried to make payment several times but failed. The student’s counsel had informed the bench that he failed to submit the fee due to technical glitches.